Most Midwestern geohashing points fall in corn or soybean fields. Yesterday's point for the Danville, Illinois graticule was different. It fell near an interesting wooded area, and the return trip passed an amazing quarry. See the trip report for the full story.
I have gone geohashing several more times since I last wrote about it. So far I have visited 13 points. Here are links to four noteworthy trips:
The rest of the trips and some pictures can be found on my user page.
Allerton Park is a 1,500-acre wooded nature preserve about 40 minutes southwest of Champaign. The University of Illinois administers the park and uses it for conferences, academic retreats, and teaching. Yesterday, Yun-young, Manish, and I went hiking on two of its nature trails. Afterward, we stopped at the day's geohashing coordinates, which were only about two miles away.
We first passed through the meticulously-groomed formal gardens.
Then we entered the peaceful and shadowy nature trail. I periodically pointed out the trees I recognized and the animal tracks that crossed the path.
Eventually, the trail curved to follow the Sangamon River.
It was obvious from the muddy trail and lack of groundcover that the river had recently flooded the area.
We had to detour around standing water or ford small streams several times. The moisture also meant that we had to constantly fight off swarms of mosquitoes. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the insect repellent. When we passed through sunbeams I could see dozens of the insects buzzing around our backs and unprotected arms. At one point, Manish killed five mosquitoes with one slap. Today my shoulders and elbows are covered with red welts.
Despite that, we all enjoyed the hike. The forest was lush and beautiful, and I found it fascinating to see the effects of the flood.
We made it to the opposite end of the park and returned along the higher and dryer access road. We passed a family attempting to break into their car, having locked their keys inside. I called AAA for a nearby service station, but the father decided to break a back window instead. That idea excited his young daughter who enthusiastically ran into the woods to find a big rock. We left before she found one.
After returning to my car, we circled the park to the day's geohashing coordinates. In a drastic departure from previous coordinates, which fell in cornfields, Saturday's coordinates fell in a soybean field. I placed a marker flag while Manish and Yun-young took some pictures. Unfortunately, we arrived late and did not meet any other geohashers.
It was a fun day trip, and all three of us look forward to exploring the rest of Allerton south of the river.
Yun-young posted her pictures in this Facebook album.
Champaign's May 31 geohashing coordinates fell between the runways at Willard Airport, so I could not have made it without breaking several trespassing laws. Fortunately, I was also driving to Chicago for a concert, so I could take the back roads past Aurora, Illinois' graticule instead. The coordinates fell in a remote region of farms about an hour and 45 minutes directly north of Champaign.
The drive was sublime. The sky was clear, and the fields were just beginning to turn green. I had the windows and sunroof open the entire time.
Near Gibson City I saw dozens of wind turbines spinning on the horizon. I turned and drove to get a closer look. They were further away than I had expected; I drove at least five miles before meeting the first.
As I got closer, more and more turbines appeared over the treetops.
I had no idea that such a large wind farm existed so close to Champaign. According to Horizon Wind Energy, the Twin Groves Wind Farm, of which I saw only a part, covers 22,000 acres and produces 396 megawatts with 240 turbines. The American Wind Energy Association says that Twin Groves produces about half of Illinois' wind power.
After driving among the windmills like an ant among giant flowers, I resumed the trip north to the geohashing coordinates. The precise point fell in a cornfield near Campus, Illinois, population 145. To reach the field, I drove down a poorly-marked but well-maintained gravel road.
I was not surprised that no other XKCD readers were there since I arrived about 30 minutes late and the coordinates were so far away from everything. I did not hike into the field this time.
A pickup truck passed as I was getting back into my car. The driver rolled down his window and asked if anything was wrong. I thought about how I could explain geohashing but instead told him I just stopped to take some pictures.
From there, I slowly made it back to the main roads and arrived in Chicago in time for the concert.
On Wednesday, the wonderful XKCD posted a comic that coined the term "geohashing": an algorithm for calculating a (pseudo-)random trip destination based on one's location and the most recent Dow opening. The destination is the same for all readers in an integral latitude and longitude, so it becomes the location of a spontaneous gathering of other XKCD readers.
There is a wiki, several implementations, a REST-ful web service, and an "official" meeting time every Saturday at 4 PM.
I love everything about the idea. First, it can't help but be spontaneous, since one cannot know the location in advance. If someone could predict the stock market, I doubt he or she would use it to plan for an XKCD meetup. Second, it gives one a reason to travel off the beaten path (vis. the "Achievements"). Third, one gets to play with GPS, maps, and satellite imagery à la geocaching. Finally, and most importantly, one can meet other geeky webcomic fans who like the outdoors.
Today I attended the first meetup for the 40, -88 graticule. The destination was in the middle of a cornfield about 20 miles west of Champaign.
I first drove to the intersection at the northwest corner of the field. I got out and surveyed the silent, open countryside around me. There was a farmer feeding his cattle near where I parked. He looked at me curiously when I started walking along the road, holding my camera and GPS. I realized I could park closer to the destination, so I retraced the road east about half a mile to the northern edge of the field. From there, the destination was only a half a mile directly south.
I could not see anyone on the road or field—not surprising since UIUC is out for the summer and most of my CS friends were either busy or out of town— so I started walking along the grassy drainage ditch toward the destination. I had traveled about 300 yards when a car pulled up behind mine. I waved at the occupants as they started walking toward me. The internet delivers!
I returned to the road to introduce myself and shook hands all around. Kyle, Kim, and Matt were former UIUC students now living in Champaign. They hadn't expected anyone else to show up either.
We set off toward the destination, chatting about UIUC and XKCD. We had to be careful not to step on the rows of corn seedlings. It did not take long to walk across the field. When our GPS units told us we had arrived, we took some pictures of the thoroughly nondescript cornfield and discussed how we could mark the spot. I will have to bring a flag to next week's meetup.
We did not stay long, but like any trip, the journey was more important than the destination.